Buttery Scottish Teatime Scones - vegan recipe

Light and fluffy Scottish scones with a good rise made to a vegan recipe.

Afternoon Tea Scones

Don't you just love a fluffy, buttery scone?

They are so associated with afternoon tea here in Scotland (and in England too), that it just wouldn't be the same without them.

I just love them, especially when they're still warm from the oven.

Scottish High Tea

Scottish High Tea

Scones are offered in Scotland as part of a high tea. Have you heard of high tea?

High tea is an early evening meal, where you're served a selection of small cakes, including scones after your main meal with a pot of tea. Toast is often served too. It's all included in the price of the meal.

Many hotels and pubs offer high teas in Scotland, but you better be prepared to dine early between 4:30pm and 6:00pm.

Vegan Scones

These scones are vegan. I used my traditional recipe for scones and changed the butter to dairy free spread, the plain yoghurt to vegan plain yoghurt (I use Alpro) and the milk to almond milk. It was as simple as that and they had a really good rise and were light as air when you bite into them. All soft and fluffy inside.

Who said vegan baking was difficult?

I couldn't find my regular cutter for scones, so I used a smaller cutter, which made 12 small scones instead of the 6-8 large scones I'd usually make out of the scone dough.

What's the secret to light, fluffy scones?

Cold butter or dairy-free spread, straight out of the fridge.

When you're rubbing the butter/spread into the flour, don't overdo it, just rub the butter in until it's just combined.

When you add the wet ingredients, cut it in with a knife, don't use your hands or a spoon.

Bring it together with your hands but don't overwork the dough. The less you handle it the better.

Roll it out thickly, 3-4 cm thick.

When you cut it, be careful not to twist the cutter as you lift it out of the scone dough or your scones will bake squint, instead of straight up.

How to serve a scone

In Cornwell and Devon scones are served with jam and clotted cream (the name of my friend Beth's blog actually Jam and Clotted Cream). There is great debate down south as to what goes first the jam or the cream.

Devon scones - jam first then cream

Cornwall scones - cream first then jam

Who knows who's right? I like to serve them still a little warm with butter/dairy-free spread and jam.

The history of scones

Some say the word scone originates from the Dutch word schoonbrot or schoonbrood which means beautiful/pure bread or the Scots Gaelic word sgonn, which means a large piece of something.

In Scotland they were originally made by crofters with oats and buttermilk on a girdle(griddle) outside on a fire and cut into triangles.

They were also said to be named for the Stone of Destiny which stood in Scone, Perth where the Kings of Scotland where crowned.

Later scones would be baked in an oven.

In the 1800s they became part of afternoon tea when the Duchess of Bedford requested tea and sweet breads. Scones were duly served, she loved them and it soon became a trend that is still popular today.

Which shape should a scone be?

ROUND!

Always cut scones with a round cutter. It can be plain or fluted, but has to be a circle cutter.

If you want triangle scones, bake one large bannock and cut into triangles. Baked triangles of scones are always going to be an uneven bake, quite hard at the tip and lighter at the base, Round is definitely the best option for a light bake all the way through.

MAKE THIS NEXT

Scottish Raspberry Jam

You may also want to have a go at making your own jam to serve with the scones. If so try my Scottish Raspberry Jam. It's easier to make than you may think and no need for a thermometer, just a saucer to pop in the freezer and your little pinky.

Oh do try them, they are so easy. The bunny platter was a gift from my friend Andrew, he remembered me saying I liked them. Such a sweetheart. Wish my husband paid as much attention to what I say, haha!

I love how fluffy these are, and I think this should be served with tea and coffee EVERYWHERE, but too bad they are the best when served right from the oven. But, no problem for us who are loving them so much to make them every time. :)

This made me smile, first of all because your scones look fabulous and totally delicious. Secondly, because you make and pronounce your scones in the true Scottish way, I agree with everything you wrote - great job!

Oh no definitely not. I think if you keep things simple and use straight forward swaps instead of adding odd or artificial ingredients, you will get a better result. So many vegan dairy products are great quality now and make good swaps in recipes.

I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x